cleveland rocks and so does its food (tell me why and win $50 to crop)

Since landing in Cleveland in 2005, chef Steve Schimoler has made quite the impression. After his term ended at Nestle in Solon, he could have packed up his knives and headed anywhere given his impressive background and talent. But no, he decided to stay in Cleveland and open Crop Bistro in the summer of 2007. And that would have been enough for most – but not this chef. He fell in love with our city and wanted to make a bigger impact. He went onto launch Local Crop, an online farmer’s market that connects Northeast Ohio farmers with local chefs, and most recently, Cleveland Food Rocks, a collaborative effort among local chefs to put our wonderful independent restaurants in the spotlight as the Rock Hall induction ceremony finally comes home.

Beginning March 28 through April 4 – Rock Hall induction week – 16 restaurants will feature a special food or drink item centered around the Rock ‘n’ Roll theme and will have live music one night during the week.

Just like the Renegade Lunch, this is another idea I just love — our local chefs working together to promote our city and each other. Chef Schimoler’s objective for this concept was to champion the dining scene to the estimated 40,000 visitors that are expected to take over Cleveland that week and boost business at local, independent restaurants.

According to Elaine Cicora, Crops’s chief storyteller, Steve came up with the idea a year ago. As a drummer and a chef, he is very tuned into the synergy of food and music, and immediately saw this as a natural way to leverage the excitement of the inductions into a showcase for the city’s great dining scene. In addition, he also was committed to developing the project as a truly collaborative, grass-roots endeavor and wanted to encourage the community to come together to spotlight our wonderful city — not merely as a money-making opportunity, but as a real celebration of Cleveland’s great clubs and restaurants.

The Music

The project’s grassroots focus is also seen in some of the music that restaurants are featuring : Sergio’s Sarava, for instance, will be featuring a samba trio made up of the restaurant’s bus boys; Metropolitan Cafe is featuring acoustic jazz provided by their multi-talented servers; and of course, Cream of the Crop (Steve’s band) will be playing at Crop on April 3 featuring Crop staffers and former staffers.

This is really a big deal for our city. The inductions are finally back and it’s great to see so many businesses, organizations and the community in general working together and joining in the excitement.

For a complete list of live music and special food and drink creations, click here. By the way, be sure to head to the Rock Hall on April 4 – admission is FREE all day.

Win $50 to Crop

So what’s better than all the new treats hitting diners’ plates next week? Eating for free. Playing off the popularity of the six-word phenomenon, sometimes referred to as American haiku, you can win a $50 gift certificate to Crop Bistro. Here’s how:

Legend has it Hemingway was once asked if he could write a story in six-words. His reply, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He was said to have called it his best work. In 2006, Smith Magazine partnered with Twitter for a six-word challenge (another brilliant idea). Soon, there will be a foodie six-word book from Smith Mag (more on that later).

Playing off this idea, tell me why Cleveland Rocks in exactly six words and the gift card could be yours. Share your words in the comment section and be sure to include your e-mail so I can notify the winner. Deadline is Friday, April 27, at 9 a.m. Good luck.

For inspiration, watch this video. Even if you’re not going to participate, still watch – it’s that good. And be sure to head out during Rock Hall week to help our chefs show off our city.

Who are these insane people (or person) that make these ignorant comments about Cleveland? They are either shut-ins or have never been here. The river was on fire DECADES ago. Before most of us were born. We all know the river burned…..but they put it out quite a while ago. Time to move on. Time to live in this century! If you dislike Cleveland so much then by all means, PLEASE STAY AWAY! We don’t need you.

Water quality has somewhat since the 1960′s fire but pollution remains, however, including urban runoff, nonpoint source problems, combined sewer overflows, and stagnation due to water impounded by dams. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency classified portions of the Cuyahoga River Watershed as one of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

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